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Wired or Wireless Office Space: How do you Choose?

Ever wonder which is faster or better for your business – using a wireless Wi-Fi or plugging directly into the wired Ethernet? The short answer is that the wired Ethernet connection will always be faster because you are eliminating the wireless access point that acts as a middle connection. This is also true because WiFi connections can only send or receive (not do both at same time) and therefor are only half duplex. Ethernet-based connections take advantage of the full duplex nature of wired Internet connections.

While wired Internet access has long been the traditional choice for small businesses, the technology relies on physical cords and cables to connect computers to the Internet. On the flipside, Wi-Fi provides a convenient way to connect the computers in your small office space without dealing with the hassle of wires. But Wi-Fi is also seen as slow and unreliable compared to a wired connection.

Basically there is no ideal answer to the question of which is better. The use of wireless Internet and wired Internet is based on preference, depending on the conditions that need to be met in a certain situation. Most wireless routers also have Ethernet ports where you can connect computers with a wire.

The great thing about deploying a wireless Wi-Fi network when you move into a new raw office space is that there is no need to run networking cable, which could save you a great deal of money. Going wireless can have your office up and running within hours because there is no cabling to wait for. With Wi-Fi, you also give your office workers more flexibility as to where they can work at any given time, because they are not forced to work where there is an Ethernet connection.

The latest technology trends are seeing people use more mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets that do not have Ethernet connections, and can only access the Internet via the phone provider or Wi-Fi. So, having an office space with wireless capability is very important to these users. But it is also important to note that even laptop computer users will often seek a place to work where they can plug in their AC adapter, so locations with electrical outlets is still important.

Now let’s next talk about why and when you may want to go with wired instead of wireless. Here are a few instances where you may notice much better performance over a wired connection rather than Wi-Fi.

When you are making small-file transfers over your Wi-Fi, you may not notice much of a difference. But when you’re transferring larger files between computers or servers on your local network that may be over 1GB or so, you will clearly see the difference between a wired and Wi-Fi connection.

Video chat and conferences can take up some serious bandwidth in order to give you smooth, high-resolution video and audio. For really good video chat sessions, you’ll want to wire up, unless you think your customers will be impressed with a blurry, choppy video conference where they only understand half of your presentation. Basically we are saying to use an Ethernet Connections for large file transfers, video chat and conferences. Wi-Fi will work for most everything else.